Augeas

In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, /ɔːˈdʒiːəs/, Greek: Αὐγείας), whose name means "bright", was king of Elis and father of Epicaste. Some say that Augeas was one of the Argonauts.[1] He is best known for his stables, which housed the single greatest number of cattle in the country and had never been cleaned, until the time of the great hero Heracles.

Family

Augeas's lineage varies in the sources: he was said to be either the son of Helios and Nausidame[1] or of Eleios, king of Elis, and Nausidame,[2] or of Poseidon,[3] or the son of Phorbas and Hyrmine.[3] His children were Epicaste, Phyleus, Agamede[4] Agasthenes, and Eurytus.[5]

Mythology

Heracles rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus, to clean out the Augean stables. Roman mosaic, 3rd century AD.

The fifth Labour of Heracles (Hercules in Latin) was to clean the Augean (/ɔːˈdʒiːən/) stables. Eurystheus intended this assignment both as humiliating (rather than impressive, like the previous labours) and as impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (immortal) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung (ἡ ὄνθος). These stables had not been cleaned in over thirty years, and 3,000 cattle lived there. However, Heracles succeeded by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth.

Augeas reacted angrily because he had promised Heracles one tenth of his cattle if the job was finished in one day. He refused to honor the agreement, and Heracles killed him after completing the tasks. Heracles gave his kingdom to Phyleus, Augeas' son, who had been exiled for supporting Heracles against his father.

According to the odes of the poet Pindar, Heracles then founded the Olympic Games:

the games which by the ancient tomb of Pelops the mighty Heracles founded, after that he slew Kleatos, Poseidon's godly son, and slew also Eurytos, that he might wrest from tyrannous Augeas against his will reward for service done.[6]

Eurystheus discounted the success of this labour because the rushing waters had done the work of cleaning the stables and because Heracles was paid. Stating that Heracles still had seven labours to do, Eurystheus then sent Heracles to defeat the Stymphalian Birds.

Classical Literature Sources

Chronological listing of classical literature sources for Augeas:

Homer, Iliad 2. 615 ff (trans. Murray) (Greek epic C8th BC):
Homer, Iliad 2. 625 ff:
Homer, Iliad 11. 696 ff:
Homer, Iliad 11. 737 ff:
Telegony Fragment 1 (Hesiod the Homeric Hymns and Homerica 1920 trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 6th BC):
Pindar, Olympian Ode 10. 28 ff (trans. Sandys) (Greek lyric C5th BC)
Pindar, Olympian Ode 10. 33ff
Theocritus, Idylls 25 Hercules The Lion-slayer, or, The Wealth of Augeas. 1 ff (trans. Banks) (Greek bucolic C3rd BC):
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3. 367 ff (trans. Coleridge) (Greek epic C3rd BC)
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3. 432 ff
Callimachus, Uncertain Location Fragment 69 (216), "Callimachus and Lycophron Aratus", with the scholiast, trans. Mair (1921) p. 261 (Greek poet C3rd B.C.)
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 69. 2 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st BC)
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 13. 3
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 33. 1-4
Ovid, Metamorphoses 9. 187 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman epic C1st BC to C1st AD):
Seneca, Hercules Furens 247 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD):
Seneca Hercules Oetaeus 1889 ff
Strabo, Geography 8. 3. 9
Strabo, Geography 10. 2. 19
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library 1. 9. 16 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythographer C2nd AD)
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library 2. 5. 5
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library 2. 5. 11
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library 2. 7. 2-3
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library 2. 7. 8
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 15. 1 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd AD)
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 1. 8-3. 4
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 4. 2
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 8. 1-3
Pausanias, Description of Greece 6. 20. 15-16
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 14. 9
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 14 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd AD)
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 30
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 157
Aelian, Historical Miscellany 1. 24 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd AD)
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 6. 258 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th AD)
Servius, In Vergilii Carmina Commentarii 8. 300 ff (trans. Thilo) (Greek commentary C4th AD to 5th AD)
Nonnos, Dionysiaca 25. 242 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th AD)
Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 278-290 (trans.Untia) (Byzantine historian C12 AD)

Chronological listing of classical literature sources for the Stables of Augeas:

Callimachus, Uncertain Location Fragment 69 (216), Callimachus and Lycophron Aratus (with the scholiast, trans. Mair 1921 p. 261) (Greek poet C3rd BC)
Lycophron, Alexandra 648 ff, Callimachus and Lycophron Aratus (with the scholiast, trans. Mair 1921 p. 548) (Greek poet C3rd BC)
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 13. 3 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st BC):
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 33. 1-4:
Ovid, Metamorphoses 9. 187 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman epic C1st BC to C1st AD):
Seneca, Hercules Furens 247 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st AD):
Seneca Hercules Oetaeus 1889 ff
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library 2. 5. 5 (trans. Frazer) (Greek mythographer C2nd AD)
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library 2. 5. 11
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 30 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd AD)
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 6. 258 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th AD)
Servius, In Vergilii Carmina Commentarii 8. 300 ff (trans. Thilo) (Greek commentary C4th AD to 5th AD)
Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 2. 278-290 (trans.Untila) (Byzantine historian C12 AD)
Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 2. 497 ff
Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 8. 268 ff
Tzetzes, Chiliades or Book of Histories 12. 248

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Notes

Hyginus. Fabulae 14
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 5.1.9
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.88
Hyginus, Fabulae 157
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 4.33.3
Pindar. The Extant Odes of Pindar, Project Gutenberg.

References

Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.

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[:0-1] Hyginus. Fabulae 14

[2] Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 5.1.9

[:1-3] Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.88

[4] Hyginus, Fabulae 157

[5] Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica 4.33.3

[6] Pindar. The Extant Odes of Pindar, Project Gutenberg.